Central Plains sends two teams to State

Both Central Plains Oiler Basketball squads took the sub-state title at their home court in Claflin this past Saturday. The Lady Oilers had to defeat league opponent the Kinsley Coyotes in the semifinals and the No. 4 ranked Kiowa County Mavericks for the championship. On the boys side, the Oiler men were victorious against the Skyline Thunderbirds who they took on in the semis, and league opponent the Macksville Mustangs to earn the trip to Manhattan. The girls will play at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Manhattan  and the boys play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday..

Girls

The Central Plains girls got out to a 9-0 lead at the beginning of the sub-state championship game against Kiowa County. The nine points were shared between sophomore Emily Ryan and senior Julie Donecker. The first quarter ended with a 20-8 Oiler lead.

      The Mavericks would score the first bucket of the 2nd quarter right from the start. Sophomore Rachel Lamatsch picked up her third foul of the evening and had to sit the bench for awhile. Kiowa County went on a run as the Oiler’s fell into a scoreless lull.

Boys

   One of the most anticipated boys sub-state matches took place during the Championship game of the Central Plains sub-state. The Macksville Mustangs versus the Central Plains Oilers was intense for all 32 minutes of the game. The Oilers had a quick 11-2 start and by the end of the quarter led 18-11. Junior Alex Hickel shot in 11 out of the 18 Central Plains’ points, while senior Alex Barton chipped chip in six, and junior Myles Menges added a free throw.

   The beginning of the second quarter started with a Mustang three and two free throws to make the score 18-16. The Oilers responded with back to back buckets from Barton and junior Brett Liebl. Teams continued to trade points to end with a tight half time score 25-23.

Pick up a copy of the March 8 edition of the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter for more stories and photos on sub-State action.